Authors - Mouniesh V, Sona S, Mariya Ashile K, Karthick Panneerselvam Abstract - This paper presents the implementation experience of indigenously developed Data Concentrator Units (DCUs) for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. The DCU functions as the last-mile communication bridge between field devices and the Head-End System (HES), enabling efficient data collection, aggregation, and management. By performing local processing and aggregation, it reduces data traffic over the Wide Area Network (WAN), there-by improving communication efficiency, scalability, and reliability. The DCU firmware is designed for flexible communication and secure data handling, sup-porting pluggable WAN and Neighbourhood Area Network (NAN) communication modules compliant with proprietary BHARAT IoT standards, that can be upgraded or replaced without requiring complete system replacement or rede-sign. It also ensures robust data security through AES-GCM-GMAC encryption. The NAN module is implemented using LoRa technology, enhanced through the LoRaPro communication module, which increases payload capacity from the standard 256 bytes to 1 KB using an advanced packet stitching and slicing algorithm that ensures reliable reconstruction of larger messages. The paper discusses the major design and development challenges encountered and the methodologies adopted to address them.
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